Our View: Unity is the missing ingredient for Somerset Berkley Regional School District

Wednesday

Feb 5, 2014 at 6:00 PMFeb 6, 2014 at 4:03 PM

Three years into its partial regionalization arrangement, the Somerset Berkley Regional School District appears headed for disaster. As the clock is ticking toward the opening of the new $82.7 million regional high school, both the Somerset and regional school committees are unable to work together for the good of the fledgling regional school district.

Editorial Board

Three years into its partial regionalization arrangement, the Somerset Berkley Regional School District appears headed for disaster. As the clock is ticking toward the opening of the new $82.7 million regional high school, both the Somerset and regional school committees are unable to work together for the good of the fledgling regional school district.

Since July 1, Thomas Lynch has led both Berkey's K-8 district and — on an interim basis — the regional district, after the regional board decided against extending Richard Medeiros' contract. Medeiros has continued to head the Somerset K-8 district, an awkward — and unaffordable — arrangement that is coming to an end in five months.

Meanwhile, there are less than seven months to go until the new regional high school is set to open and there's still no clear plan in place to name a permanent superintendent to lead the district. At this late date, several school committee members seem to be driving in different directions, but there's little consensus on which route to take.

But the decisions made by the committees will, as noted at Monday's meeting, have a "ripple effect" across the districts. This is no time for personal or political agendas to hamper the cooperative, regional approach necessary for a regional school district.

The uncertainty related to the future administrative structures means officials must make budgeting assumptions based on scenarios that are as clear as mud right now. This is only hurting efforts to make necessary budget cuts and approving realistic spending plans in the face of Somerset's mounting fiscal woes. School budgets are to be presented at the end of the month, but no one knows the administrative structures (and potentially shared expenses) that will take shape.

At the lengthy and heated joint meeting Monday night, the two school committees continued to squabble about which route to take. Options included putting one superintendent in charge of all three districts — the regional district, Somerset K-8 and Berkley K-8 — or starting a search immediately to replicate the previous arrangement where the regional superintendent would also head the Somerset K-8 district, and leaving Berkley K-8 to operate separately.

While other compromise positions emerged from the meeting, at the end of it all, there remains no plan in place for hiring a superintendent who will lead Somerset's K-8 and the regional high school districts. The two school boards — as usual — were divided. The Somerset School Committee voted 3-2 to begin a search for a new superintendent immediately without a set timetable, while the regional School Committee voted 5-2 against.

Where the districts go from here remains very foggy. What is clear, though, is that some good decisions must be made — and fast — in order to ensure sound budgets and necessary logistics are in place for a smooth school opening.

For three years now, unity has been the key ingredient missing from the Somerset Berkley Regional School District. It's beyond time for those who hold the future of the district in their hands to put their own interests aside and add that missing ingredient before this partial regionalization experiment becomes a recipe for disaster.